Water Genius Game of the Week: Savinon, Cherry pace Dragons in win at Durant

Water Genius Game of the Week:
Savinon, Cherry pace Dragons in win at Durant

Jefferson’s Kaleb Cherry is greeted by his teammates after his three-run home run in the third inning.

By Jarrett Guthrie, Editor

PLANT CITY – Addressing on your weaknesses. Adding to your repertoire. Both take discipline, and time.

For Jefferson junior returning starters Ethan Savinon and Kaleb Cherry, both worked to step up their games in the offseason, and for the Dragons it’s paying dividends early.

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Savinon dealt four shutout innings Saturday morning at Durant and helped spark two big offensive innings with three hits at the plate, helping the Dragons to a mercy-rule-shortened 10-0 win over the Cougars.

Jefferson junior RHP Ethan Savinon earned his second win on the mound this season.

A season ago, the Dragons righty had a 2.02 ERA in his 11 appearances and finished 4-2. But at the plate, despite 11 RBI, he struggled a bit batting just .213.

“Last year my pitching was probably my best strength, and hitting maybe wasn’t my best,” Savinon said. “So, I went to the batting cages a lot. Just hitting, hitting, hitting, and I got ready for this season.”

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So far, so good. Savinon had a three-hit, three RBI game – including the game-clinching RBI line drive single to left in the third inning. He leads the Dragons with 11 hits (.550 average) and 11 RBI, and with his first-inning flyball off the wall in center, has five doubles on the year.

His classmate had a productive sophomore year for Jefferson, as Cherry batted .263, while driving in 17 and scoring 12 runs. The cleanup hitter and utility defender spent the off- and preseason adding pitching to his talents.

Dragons junior Kaleb Cherry squares up this fastball in the third inning for a three-run home run to left.

Against Durant (4-3), Cherry showcased a little old – driving in three with a bomb over the wall in leftfield; and some of the new – finishing off the game’s fifth inning with a pair of strikeouts in a 1-2-3 game-sealer.

“I didn’t really start pitching until this year,” Cherry said. “I focus on getting ahead, and you always want to come out and do your part for the team while winning games.”

After snagging a line drive, Dragons 3B Kaleb Cherry sets for a throw to double off a runner at first.

Cherry added to an impressive day with the defensive play of the game at third base, gloving a scalding hot-shot line drive off the bat of Durant’s Brady Kelley, and firing across the diamond to double off a runner.

“It’s about preparation to always be ready pre-pitch,” Cherry said. “He smoked the ball and I put my glove out and caught it. I heard everyone yelling ‘one,’ so I threw it to first base and caught (the runner) for the double-play.”

Durant C Jacob Purcell throws out a stealing runner in the first inning.

Early on the game played out slowly. Durant starting pitcher Tristan Macpherson shook off a strike-three wild pitch allowing the game’s leadoff batter to reach (helped by a caught stealing by Cougars catcher Jacob Purcell) for a scoreless first. He then struck out three (of his four) batters in the first two innings.

Durant SP Tristan Macpherson

But the third inning things turned for the Durant junior.

After a pop out, Jefferson (5-1) got runners aboard on a hit batter and an AJ Cruz single, before Savinon opened the scoring single, and Cherry sweetened the pie with his homer.

“We faced this same pitcher in the fall, so I knew what I was coming up against,” Cherry said. “I’ve seen his fastball. I’ve seen his off-speed. My first at-bat I got a fastball and I hit a line drive to centerfield, and I knew my swing was on.

“So, in that second at-bat he gave me off-speed first pitch, I laid off it and he gave me a fastball down the middle and the ball went pretty far.”

Manny Baez singles up the middle to drive in two for the Dragons.

Walks piled up, and two wild pitches added two more Jefferson runs, before Savinon singled in two, and Manny Baez grounded a ball through the middle to put the Dragons up by 10.

“I knew we were facing a good pitcher, so we had to come out here hitting and I wanted to come out and show what I could do,” said Savinon, who allowed four hits, two walks and finished with four strikeouts. “I knew my team had my back and I think we were prepared to come out and do what we had to do.”